The thermoacoustic Stirling heatengines developed by the LANL scientists work by creating intense acoustic energy that can be used directly in acoustically powered refrigerators or to generate electricity.
"The efficiency of conventional heatengines is limited both by the laws of thermodynamics and practical concerns over the cost of building and operating complex engines, " says Los Alamos researcher Scott Backhaus.
Feel the heat generated by the engines of a truck or car traveling down Broadway, and just multiply it by a billion, which according to Ward's Auto, is the number of motor vehicles now on the roads of our planet.
Looks like all that heat generated by your laptop may finally be useful for something other than frying eggs -- a group of grad students led by professor Orest Symko at the University of Utah has unveiled an array of "thermoacoustic" engines that turn heat into sound, which can be directed at a piezoelectric mechanism to produce electricity.
On most jet aircraft, hot air from the engines is routed through piping in the wings, tail and engine openings to heat their surfaces and prevent icing.